Crushed Ice
by M2 Zero
Summary: [Archie universe][Ice Man centric] Let this be a lesson that, when exploring the arctic without a functioning teleportation matrix, you should always watch where you're going.


Ice Man was not having a very fun day.

He was just supposed to be exploring. It had thankfully been awhile since their last confrontation with Wily, and the Light Labs Robot Masters had been enjoying some reprieve to go about their own devices. Ice… He wouldn't admit it, but even though Wily couldn't tamper any more with his systems, had in fact been very under the radar, he still didn't feel comfortable. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

So he'd thrown himself into his work, taking on tasks that involved less time at the base where the scientists worked and spending more time gathering data deep in unexplored areas deeper into the arctic region. He walked along an icy ridge, taking care to mind his step in case it collapsed under him. Snow drifted down around him, and the temperature was far colder than anyone else ought to be able to manage. This was _his element._ Out here, nothing could possibly hurt him! He smiled slightly, hand trailing along the tall wall of frozen stone next to him.

Ice blinked, attention shaken slightly by a Ping on his communication systems, a modified setup that was made to get a signal even in this kind of weather. He frowned slightly. "If Guts Man is calling again, and he **still** can't figure it out…" Ice grumbled to himself. Dropping his prior train of thought, Ice focused on the message, opening a com link. Fire Man's voice drifted to him, the passionate Robot Master sounding… Concerned?

"_Howdy there, Ice. How're things going down there?"_ Fire asked over the com link, trying to sound casual. "_You've been missin' a lotta action down home, and Guts says you ain't been talkin' to him… You alright, pardner?"_ Fire's casual tone wavered quickly, his worry seeping through their connection. Ice had to resist a guilty frown, instinctively feeling bad for making the 'older' Lightbot worry.

"I'm fine, Fire," Ice replied. Well, maybe he wasn't, but that… It didn't have to do with his brother, and Ice didn't want to worry him more. "Guts just got on my nerves a while back, and he _still_ hasn't figured out why I'm mad at him." Ice rolled his eyes. "I'm not talking with him until he figures it out."

Fire sighed, and Ice could imagine him shaking his head. "_And how's he supposed to make it up with you if you ain't even willin' to hear him out?"_ Fire asked, his tone not exactly scolding, but certainly stern. Ice winced anyways, as though he'd been harshly chided. Fire Man might not've been the oldest Apparent Age (that honor went to Guts Man) and he rarely acted as their leader (a duty that usually fell to Elec Man or Rock, if not simply Dr. Light himself) but he had the unique skill of keeping them all firmly in line, and stopping them all from acting too stupid.

Ice blushed slightly, taking his hand off the wall to press his fingers together embarrassedly. "I… I guess you're right. Sorry, Fire…"

"_And..?"_ Fire asked. Ice was sure he was raising an eyebrow, donning that look he had every time he twisted his brother's arm like this.

Ice sighed. "And… I'll talk to Guts and tell him why I've been upset with him," Ice promised, somewhat reluctantly. "_After_ I get back to base," he quickly added. If he called now, Fire would link into their call to make sure they made up 'properly', and that was a bit much for Ice.

"_You headed that'a ways now, pardner?"_ Fire asked, apparently still concerned enough that he wasn't yet ready to drop their conversation. Ice restrained a sigh.

"I… Need to finish getting the data we need for this area," Ice said, still not feeling very up to returning. Before Fire could insist that he returned, the Robot Master quickly changed the subject. "You said that I missed a lot?" Ice asked, tilting his head- although, technically, there was no one around to see the visual cue, and so it was rather unnecessary. "I… Uh, Rock and Tempo and R-Roll visited a while back, but they didn't really… Have time to fill me in, and I guess it has been a while since I've been home…"

"_No kiddin',"_ Fire agreed dryly, his kindly amusement warming their link to show he meant no offense. "_Well, for starters…"_

Fire Man soon launched into a lengthy tale, filling Ice in on the going-ons back home. He was surprised to hear about Splash Woman and Concrete Man, realizing with some embarrassment that he'd not even realized they were being built, along with a good number of other Robot Masters that had popped up. Ice had only really known about Quake Woman, and that was just because she'd come by personally to visit him. He was startled by Fire's news on an anti-robotics group called the Emerald Spears, frowning in worry as his brother recounted their various encounters. Along the grapevine, there'd also been a rumor that Rock had shorted out and lost a chunk of empty memory files, though Fire cautioned that he wasn't sure how true that was; he had just heard it from Bomb Man who heard it from Time, who heard it from Elec, who heard it from Oil, who claims that he heard it from Guts, who had to have heard it from Roll. Ice nodded seriously, taking note of the chain for when he passed it to Cut Man. As he listened to Fire, Ice failed to notice himself taking less care than he should as he walked.

The ice under Ice Man's feet lurched and fell, causing his leg to drop out from under him and Ice to yelp in surprise. Fire's stream of chatter stopped as he realized that something had happened. Ice grimaced, looking down; a narrow crevice had crumbled from the ice thanks to his misstep, and his leg was currently wedged into the gap rather uncomfortably. Fire's voice crackled back to life over their link, as Ice frowned, trying to work out how to safely dislodge himself.

"_I-Ice Man, you all good, pardner? What happened over there?"_ Fire asked, somewhat frantically. "_Do you need help? I can-"_

"No!" Ice interrupted, sharper than he had intended. He winced, before continuing in a more even voice. "No, I- I'm good, it's fine. I can get out of this on my own. I'm… Just a little stuck, is all." He laughed nervously, now searching for a _relatively_ safe way to dislodge himself. "No big deal! I- I'm supposed to be able to… To deal with…" He winced, before pressing his hands and unstuck foot firmly against the ice and pulling. The surface of the ice cracked dangerously, and his leg managed to get an inch further out of the ice. Ice Man quickly aimed a few Ice Slashers across the surface of the platform, hoping that the freezing blades would add to the gathered ice and help stabilize it.

"_Whaddya mean, stuck? Ice, what __**happened**__?!"_ Fire exclaimed. Ice ignored him, instead giving his leg another strong tug. Unfortunately, he'd apparently misjudged how many Ice Slashers he needed to stabilize himself; the the ice cracked and crumbled, before falling apart from under him. He shouted in fear as he flipped upside down, a wave of the emotion surging over his link with Fire Man as he expected a precarious drop down. Instead, he swung back, slamming into the cold stone behind him. The hit jostled him badly, and his breathing faltered hard. He clung to the wall as well as he could upside down, wheezing as he tried to regain a normal breathing cycle. Dimly, he was aware of Fire Man still shouting over his link, and Ice tried to focus on his voice. "_...ns to Betsy, Ice, answer!"_ Fire must've felt his fear through their link like a punch to the gut, judging by the scared note in his own voice. "_That's it, I'm teleporting over there."_

Ice finally found his voice. "You can't- the ground isn't stable. You'd probably melt through what's left, and then we'd both be-" Ice was interrupted by a straggling cough, trying to continue once it had passed and his breathing seemed back to standard. "Besides, you know you're not good with the cold. It's too dangerous."

"_Too dange… Ice, I can feel how scared you are! How's it any worse than whatever darned nonsense you've gotten into now, Ice Man?!"_

"I'm built to handle this, Fire; I can be out here for days. The only risk is me running out of power, and Dr. Light made sure our cores could fall back on self-sustainable power sources in case of emergencies." Ice sighed, eyes still closed, as they'd been since he hit the wall. "You, on the other hand, would fall way out of safe temperatures, and your parts could freeze- even shatter! You can't handle it out here!"

Fire stopped himself short, taking a shuddering breath. He was radiating fear, now, matching Ice's own. He was scared for _him. "I- okay. Okay… But-"_ Fire began shakily, "_But at least… At least let me know what's going on, Ice. I'm not gonna be able to stop fretting until I know you're okay, brother."_ Now, Fire sent comfort over their link. Ice could still feel his fear, but it wasn't overwhelming their connection. Ice sighed.

"Yes, sir," Ice replied, trying to quell his own rising panic in kind. He didn't like the feeling, the fear; it made him feel even more wrong than his quiet paranoia could, made him feel disjointed with himself. He shook his head, frowning, before he tried to explain for Fire's sake. "I was walking on an ice ridge, and my leg got stuck. I tried to get it out, but the ridge fell out from under me." He opened his eyes, wincing at the view, trying to reorient himself to some success. "I swung upside down and hit the mountain, which is better than falling, but I don't…" He looked up, and cursed.

Fire Man was startled. "_Ice-?!"_

"My leg is still stuck!" Ice exclaimed, outright offended by this turn of events. Caught off guard, Fire couldn't help a surprised laugh. If anything, Ice became even more put out. "Oh, no- Fire, that's not funny! This- this is just stupid!" Ice squawked, angrily kicking his other leg. If the universe had a face, Ice would shoot it a charged Ice Slasher in retaliation for this. Of all the stupid… Ice gave a frustrated yell, firing a few Slashers aimlessly through the falling snow. It did jack squat, but at least it made him feel a bit better.

Fire quickly tried to muffle his amusement. Ice was right, the situation really wasn't funny. Just… A bit ironic. "_You're right- sorry, pardner. Maybe you oughta try teleporting outta there?"_

Ice winced, grinning weakly. "Ehe… I, uh, might have disconnected my teleportation matrix and left it at the base..?" Ice shrugged nervously. "I overloaded it a bit a while back, and it needed repairs before I could be sure it was safe to use, so-"

"_So you went out to who knows where without any safe way to get home?"_ Fire exclaimed, dumbfounded. "_Did you overload your _logic _matrixes, too?"_ Fire's presence took on a distinctive note of annoyance.

Ice winced. "...No?"

Fire sighed deeply, before becoming suddenly snappish. "_Then what in blazes were you thinkin'?! And don't you give me any of that 'built to handle it' nonsense, either, 'cause you and I both know that it ain't the same when you ain't all there!"_

Ice lowered his head… Well, technically raised his head, considering his position. "Sorry, Fire. I just…" Ice sighed, unable to put his own logic into words. He fell silent instead.

"_Maybe I should contact Dr. Light,"_ Fire Man suggested idly, his voice losing its biting tone; Ice might have forgotten his brother's annoyance if he couldn't still feel it strongly over their connection. "_If you won't let me come help you, maybe he can send someone who can. I'm sure Roll has the time…"_

Ice Man's eyes widened. He couldn't let Roll see him in this mess! "No, don't!" Ice exclaimed. "I can get myself out of this, let me just-" Ice twisted around, pushing himself away from the wall so that he could aim properly, before releasing an Ice Slasher at the section of ice still holding firmly onto his foot. He could survive the fall and walk back to base right-side up.

Hopefully.

The moment he started falling, he decided to reconsider how intelligent that decision might have been. His angle was far from conducive to falling properly, and he hit the wall again within moments, causing him to bounce away and sending his descent out of control. Naturally, he started screaming in panic, causing Fire Man to jump in alarm on the other end. The rest of the world seemed to fly by him, going fast enough he almost didn't notice the dark crevice on the next bump in the mountain- not until he hit it, his small size letting him fall through. The bright light was quickly muted by stone walls, and he didn't have time to adjust his eyes before he found himself tossed through a jagged, narrowing fall, finally stopped as he hit a deep snowbank. _Hard._ Snow flew up around the newly formed, Robot Master-shaped hole in the snow, Ice himself lying several inches deep in it.

"Ow…" Ice groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. He frowned, looking around, adjusting his optics to the dim light as he did. Apparently, the tunnel he'd fallen into led into a large cave, and- luckily enough- he'd landed on the only spot in the cave that wasn't cold, frozen stone. Looking up, he could see the tunnel he'd fallen through several feet above him, far out of reach. The faint light that managed to persist through the jagged entrance was the only light in the cave. Even after adjusting his vision to pick up as much light as he could, the cave was still filled with deep shadows that he couldn't quite make out. With a few short thoughts, Ice overlaid a night vision viewport along with his normal vision, glad for Dr. Light's foresight in making him and the other Robot Masters so versatile in their extra abilities.

"Fire Man?" Ice spoke, trying to focus on his oddly silent connection to the other Robot Master. He pressed a hand to the side of his head, where the com device proper was hidden under his parka-like armor, intending to try and increase the signal strength. He jerked back as he received a high pitched screech of feedback for his efforts, shutting off the link before the painful noise blew out his audio reception entirely. Ice waited tensely for the ringing in his 'ears' to fade, rubbing his head and wincing. "Oh boy… So much for that." He sighed, looking back up at the tunnel for a moment, before looking away and struggling upright, rolling off of the snow a moment later.

"Okay," Ice said, even though there was no one around to hear him. "I'm stuck underground, I can't teleport, I can't contact anyone…" He rubbed at his eyes, before getting to his feet. "Fire Man might know where I am, if he thought to save my coordinates while we were talking…" Ice frowned, walking forward into the shadows of the underground. Maybe he could find an exit somewhere deeper inside. "But the path I was using is destroyed… And even if they _do_ find the tunnel, would they be able to go through it?" Ice rubbed the back of his head, before giving a shuddering sigh, clenching his eyes shut and trying to calm himself down. '_Thinking about everything that can go wrong won't help you,'_ Ice man thought to himself, opening his eyes and continuing forward. '_So just don't think about Fire and Dr. Light not finding you, or not being able to find a way out, or running out of power and shutting down because there's no sun down here so your solar core components are basically useless, and- and if I shut down,'_ Ice's head was becoming a bit foggy in panic, his body starting to display signs of stress- pale face, short breath, fearful shaking- a programmed response that was meant to be a sign to nearby humans that there was something wrong. '_What if they can't find me? What if I'm stuck here offline for- forever?! What would happen to everybody else? Would they have to replace me with another Robot Master? Would they forget about me? What if...'_

Ice stopped abruptly, shaking his head violently. "That's enough, soldier!" He snapped at himself, voice harsh. "You've gotta get a hold of yourself!" The bad feeling was back, like his own fear was attacking him, trying to tear him in half. He shuddered suddenly, gripping his arms tightly and turning around. "But I- I don't know what to do! I-" Ice stopped, sucking in a breath and holding it for several seconds, before sighing. "I'm talking to myself." Ice laughed shakily. "O-kay, that's enough of that!" He looked around, expression becoming focused again. "Right, let's focus on the mission!" With that, he strode with purpose towards the wall of the cave. There wasn't exactly a shortage of time to kill, stuck underground, so he focused on searching the walls carefully, not wanting to have to go by and search again to find out he'd missed something the first time.

After a few feet, he found a small entrance, just large enough for him to crawl through. Encouraged, he followed it immediately; he had to backtrack several times when the tunnel ended abruptly or became too narrow to continue. His internal clock marked that it had been almost half an hour before he exited out of the other end of the tunnel, finding himself in another large cave, with a pile of snow in the center featuring a depression shaped suspiciously like himself. By the third time he found a tunnel and followed it to the same results, he was starting to be worried. By the tenth…

Eventually he got turned around enough by constantly winding up on different sides of the cave that he was forced to go back through all of the tunnels again, marking each entrance and exit as best he could with what he had. His Ice Slasher, frozen into a pillar at each hole, might have been a bit hard to distinguish from the rest of the ice covering the stone, but he tried to make them distinctive enough that he wouldn't get confused. Eventually, every entrance and crevice on the wall that he could reach had been marked, and enough time had passed that he no longer bothered to look at his clock and check. He knew that it had been several hours of him stuck alone in the dark, combing the underground maze for any sign of an exit.

There was nothing. _Nothing._ Ice hesitated for a moment, looking around and trying to decide if he should search again, see if he'd somehow missed something... He rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "...What's the point? There's nothing there." Ice sighed, walking slowly back to the snow pile and tossing himself back into the snow. "What, do you think that if I go through enough times, I'll suddenly find a neon 'exit' sign? Congratulations for crawling around one hundred times! You've unlocked the door! Thanks for coming and have a nice day!" Ice asked himself sarcastically.

Ice rolled over, huffing angrily. "Oh, right, and sitting around would have been _much _better. This is so useful!" He kicked the snow around. "Look how much more _not in this cave_ this is making me! Amazing!" Ice sat up, tossing snow in the air. "Maybe if I just _sit around_ enough we'll escape! Oh, boy, why didn't _I_ think of that?" Ice winced, closing his eyes and putting his head in his hands as his vision started becoming spotty. The torn feeling was back, like he was being pulled in half. He sat still, waiting for the dizziness to fade a bit before he opened his eyes again.

"Okay," Ice sighed, looking up. "So… now what, then?" He looked up at the only true exit in the cave, trying to ignore the splitting pain in the back of his processor. He couldn't dull his pain receptors on an injury that, by all accounts, didn't even _exist._ "Maybe we could try and build some sort of… tower?" Ice answered himself, scratching his head. He might be able to climb out that way, but at the same time, if he messed it up he'd wind up right back where he started. With a giant ice tower blocking the light and his snow pile. "Maybe not." Ice frowned. "What if-"

He stopped himself short, feeling suddenly that something was _off._ It was a few more seconds before it became immediately obvious, as the snow was disturbed and a few loose pieces of ice and rock started skittering across the floor. The mountain and the cave he was in were starting to shake. The quaking quickly began to increase in strength, the rocking ground shaking Ice from his snow seat, causing him to bounce onto the cold stone. He quickly tried getting a grip on the ice, glad for his ability to not slide on slippery surfaces. Alarmed, Ice looked up. "What-?" Ice's eyes widened. "Yikes!" He jumped back, moving out of the way of a falling stalactite, which lodged itself in the ground with a resounding _crack_ where his head had been moments before. Several others fell around the rest of the cave, breaking through the ice on the ground as the shaking intensified rapidly, until with a loud crash and a cacophony of grinding metal, Quake Woman drilled through the far wall.

Quake Woman looked around, quickly spotting the lost Robot Master and giving him a bored look. "Hello, Ice-" She blinked in surprise as Ice Man quickly ran over, jumping up and hugging her. "U-um..?"

Ice Man nearly burst into tears from relief, if Quake Woman's stammered surprise didn't make him aware of her discomfort. With some effort, he turned off several of his emotional displays, trying to make it so he didn't show his almost frantic relief and thus make things too uncomfortable for his fellow Robot Master. He somewhat reluctantly let go of Quake Woman, stepping back and rubbing at his eyes to try and give himself a few more seconds to lock down his expression. Trying to keep his outward emotions so tightly bound only made him feel worse, but he hoped that it would be alright if he only did it until he was calm. "S-sorry, Temp… Quake Woman." He looked up at her, expression mostly blank. "How..?"

Quake frowned slightly. "Fire Man contacted Light Labs, and Dr. Light requested I be the one to retrieve you, since I was the most suited Robot Master available. Save for Dr. Cossack's Robot Masters, perhaps, but they were unfortunately unavailable." She looked around in the cave, gaze lingering shortly on the icy markers at the tunnel entrances, before finally falling on the tunnel that Ice fell from. "You… fell, and were trapped here..?" Her expression shifted slightly, but Ice couldn't discern what she was trying to express.

"I… I couldn't…" Ice man's voice shook, and he stopped before his shaky handle on his expression broke. He stared at the ground. "...I'm sorry you had to come… all the way out here." Ice finally said softly.

Quake Woman returned her stare to him, her expression unreadable, before she awkwardly placed a hand on top of his head. "...I will escort you back to Light Labs now, if that is acceptable." Ice only nodded slightly. Sending a silent message out, the two were teleported away within moments.

Teleporting was a quick affair; a bright light, maybe a brief moment of dizziness if you weren't the one instigating the transport, and suddenly you were somewhere else entirely. Ice blinked a few times to dismiss the spots in his eyes, finding himself standing on clean tiles rather than frozen stone.

"ICE MAN!" Two voices shouted at once, causing the small Robot Master to look up in surprise just as Roll hugged him. His eyes widened, and he had just enough time to be glad that his locked down expressions were stopping him from blushing furiously, before he and Roll were both picked up in a tight hug by Fire Man.

"Don't ever worry me like that again, you.. you jerk!" Fire exclaimed, tightening his hug.

Ice wheezed. "S-sorry… Fire…" He winced. "Can you… Let go..?" Roll, next to him, pushed against Fire's chest in an attempt to loosen the older Robot Master's grip and get some breathing room.

Fire blinked. "Huh?" He seemed to realize quite suddenly how tight he was holding the other two. "O-oh! Sorry, pardners," Fire apologized quickly, setting them both down. Roll sighed in relief. "Didn' realize I was holdin' ya'll that tightly.."

Roll smiled at Fire. "It's okay, Fire Man." She turned to Ice, her expression suddenly becoming stern. "And you! Fire is right, don't you ever do something like that again! Going out into the hazard areas you work in without all the proper equipment…" Roll fumed.

Ice held up his hands placatingly… and also in case he needed to defend himself in case Roll got really angry. Better safe than sorry. "S-sorry Roll, I won't do it again! I promise!"

Roll huffed, crossing her arms. "You'd better not!"

Fire Man set his nonhand on Ice's head in what was meant as a comforting gesture. Although it really just meant that Ice had a flamethrower sitting on his head, Ice appreciated it regardless. "I'm just glad you're safe now, Ice," Fire said, seemingly beaming under his mask. If he had a mouth to do so, of course.

"I think we all are!" A jovial voice agreed, as Dr. Light stepped into the room. "Thank you for saving Ice Man, Tempo. I suppose you'll be returning home now?"

Quake Woman nodded, switching out of her armored mode. "Yes. My mother is probably expecting me." She paused in walking out to give Ice another odd look, as though she wanted to say something, but after a few moments she looked away and continued on.

Ice stopped himself again from frowning, still trying to keep his expression neutral. "I-I hope she's not too annoyed…" He wasn't very good at reading Tempo; she was a mystery wrapped inside an enigma armed with drill hands.

Dr. Light walked over to the trio of Robot Masters, Fire Man and Roll automatically taking a half-step back as Dr. Light knelt down in front of Ice Man. "I don't think that Tempo is annoyed with you, Ice Man." Light smiled, setting a hand on his shoulder. "She's been through something a lot like this before, remember? I think that Tempo just isn't sure how to tell you that she knows how you feel." Ice looked down, and Light frowned slightly. "Ice Man… Something still bothering you?"

'_He's onto you, soldier!'_ Ice froze slightly, looking up at Dr. Light, his neutral expression wavering slightly. '_I- I'll have to try and keep it together, sir- I mean...' _Ice quickly did his best to end the train of thought before it got out of hand, before double-checking that his expression was inactive. "I'm… I'm fine, sir," Ice replied.

Dr. Light frowned, before looking up at Fire Man and Roll. "I know you two want to be here for Ice Man, but I'm sure that the workers back at your station are missing you, Fire Man.. and Roll, you should let the other Robot Masters know that Ice is home safely." He held up a hand to cut off their protests. "I'm sorry, I know- but Ice Man isn't going anywhere, and the three of you can spend more time together later. I'd like to talk with him now, though."

Roll and Fire exchanged looks, before sighing and nodding. "Alright," Roll agreed. She walked out with Fire, turning to wave as they left. "See you later, Ice!"

Ice waved slightly, before turning back to Dr. Light. "What did you want to talk about, sir?"

"You're trying to keep your feelings in check," Light said. Ice resisted a wince, and had to admit that he should have known that his 'father' would have picked up on that. "I'm guessing you've been shutting down your expressions?"

Ice rubbed his arm, looking down. "I… I didn't want to bother any of the others, I guess."

"Ice Man," Dr. Light began kindly, placing a hand on his creation's shoulder, "I understand. But those functions were programmed for a _reason_, and turning those responses off isn't the right way to go about things. I'd like you to turn your expressions back on now; leaving them off for too long can be dangerous," Light smiled slightly, "And I think you've dealt with enough danger for today, wouldn't you agree?"

Ice nodded slightly, before obediently reactivating the systems he'd shut down. Almost immediately, he burst into tears, the stress and panic he'd been fostering for most of the incident hitting him all at once. "I t-thought I was g-going to die!" Ice wailed, his young age making itself apparent. Dr. Light gathered up the small Robot Master in his arms, holding him comfortingly while he cried, muttering kind words and rubbing his back soothingly, for however much it helped. The two of them sat like that for an unknown amount of time, until Ice had calmed down enough to speak again.

"Are you alright now?" Dr. Light asked, once Ice Man had fallen mostly silent, aside from occasional sniffles or hiccups.

Ice didn't answer, instead hugging Dr. Light tightly. "W-what if I really d-did..?" Ice mumbled worriedly. "I w-wouldn't have even s-seen you again, a-and…"

"But you didn't get hurt, and you're here safe now," Dr. Light replied patiently. "That's what's important."

"What about next time?" Ice asked, looking up at Dr. Light fearfully. Accidents happened all the time, even to Robot Masters. What if he wasn't as lucky in the future? What if he really was destroyed for good?

"Well," Dr. Light said, smiling slightly, "For one, you'll have your teleportation matrix next time." He put a hand on Ice's shoulder. "You've had a bad experience, Ice Man; I don't expect you to get over this right away. But if we spent our lives worrying about the risks, why… we'd never do anything at all!" He shook his head. "We can't live in fear of 'might be's and 'what if's; we can only try to be prepared for it, and until then, focus on the here and now."

Ice sniffed and scrubbed at his face, nodding slightly. "O-okay…"

"And you know that if you're ever hurt, I'll do everything I can to repair you," Dr. Light added, figuring that some extra reassurance wasn't uncalled for. Ice smiled slightly when he nodded this time, and Dr. Light beamed in kind. "Well now, that's better! Now, after we let the others know you're alright, why don't we go out and get a quick treat? I know a lovely ice cream shoppe down the road…"

"R-really?" Ice gasped, looking up in surprise, his slight smile widening. "I mean… Are you sure?"

Dr. Light laughed. "Of course! Consider it a reward for being so brave, hm?" Dr. Light winked cheerfully. Ice giggled at this, shifting and hopping down to the ground so that Dr. Light could stand.

"Thanks, dad-" Ice began, before his eyes widened as he realized what he had said. He quickly covered his mouth, looking up at Dr. Light in embarrassed shock. "I- I mean…"

Dr. Light simply smiled. "It's my pleasure, m'boy. Shall we?" The jovial scientist offered Ice his hand, which the young robot took after a small pause.

Ice Man smiled, rubbing the last of the tear stains from his face with his free hand. "Okay." He watched the door as Dr. Light tapped at the nearby control panel, unlocking and opening it, letting the two of them walk out into the main lab where Fire Man and Roll were still apparently waiting. Almost immediately, the two older Robot Masters pounced, pulling Ice (and Dr. Light by consequence) into a tight hug. "Ack!" Ice gasped, wincing slightly. "G-guys..! Can't breathe..!"

"Oh!" Fire and Roll quickly tried to disentangle themselves from the group hug, managing to disengage and move back to a more reasonable distance. "Sorry, pardners," Fire said apologetically, seeming to smile. "Didn' realize we were that excited, I guess."

Dr. Light smiled, brushing off his coat slightly. Either he was remarkably hardy for his age, or he was hiding his breathlessness remarkably well... Knowing the doctor, Ice would have guessed it was a bit of both. "It's perfectly understandable, Fire Man." His smile turned towards Roll. "Although I didn't expect you to have such a strong grip, Roll! Why, when did you become so strong?" Dr. Light laughed jovially, his good mood as infectious as usual.

Once his laughter had died down slightly, Ice turned to Fire, a tone of curiosity entering his cheered expression. "Fire Man, I thought that you were going to go back to your station? How'd you get back so fast?"

Before Fire could answer, Roll intervened, lightly knocking Ice on the forehead with her knuckles. "Ice, have you been looking at your internal clock? You two were in there for a really long time! Fire already finished his work for today!" Despite her scolding appearance, her tone was teasing.

Ice would have blushed if he could. "We were there for that long?" He couldn't help but be embarrassed. Had he spent that long crying? Dr. Light must have had a side job as a saint, to have the patience to put up with him. Ice couldn't help but feel a bit more grateful to his 'father'.

"Aw, it wasn't half as bad as Roll is makin' it out to be," Fire said abashedly, rubbing the back of his head. "I asked to leave early, since I was still mighty worried..."

"I don't suppose I can blame you," Dr. Light said, shaking his head in amusement. He blinked and looked up at a knock on the door, and Elec peeked in a moment later.

"Ice!" Elec exclaimed upon seeing the Robot Master. "Are you alright? We heard you got hurt-" He entered the room, Rock not far behind him.

Ice blushed slightly. How many people already knew about his screw up..? "I-I'm fine, guys, really…" Ice insisted, somewhat surprised to find himself smiling slightly. He did feel bad for worrying them, but… it was nice to have the reminder that they cared.

"That's a relief!" Rock exclaimed, giving Ice a quick hug. Elec ruffled Ice's hood kindly, before moving to stand by Fire.

Roll nudged Rock in the side. "Of course it is! We're all glad that Ice is okay." She smiled, before leaning closer to Ice, causing the parka-wearing Robot Master to blush slightly from the sudden proximity. "And I know someone else who's especially glad that you're okay…" Roll whispered, smiling secretively.

"R-really?" Ice asked, voice cracking slightly. Roll nodded, and Ice swallowed. "W-who..?"

"ICE!" A loud voice boomed, before Guts nearly crashed into the door frame. Roll giggled while Ice deflated slightly, as Guts carefully maneuvered himself through the door.

"Fire called him right away- he was really worried about you," Roll confided, smiling.

"That's… great," Ice said somewhat flatly, before being swept up in one of Guts Man's hugs.

"YOU'RE OKAY!" Guts shouted happily, thankfully keeping his wits about him enough to not crush the small Robot Master. "I was so… don't you ever… Agh, you've already heard all of that!" Guts exclaimed, before setting Ice down. He took a deep breath, before kneeling down to be a bit closer to Ice's level. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about the glacier! Real sorry, bro!"

Ice blinked a few times, taken entirely off-guard. "H-huh? I mean…" Ice shook his head slightly. Fire, standing to the side a bit, seemed to have an air of approval around him, and Ice had to wonder if he hadn't pushed Guts to figuring out what Ice's problem was. But still… "T-that's okay. Just… don't do it again?" Ice asked, still caught rather off-guard.

"Never!" Guts exclaimed, smiling. The moment was interrupted by Oil and Time entering the room to see Ice and make sure that their little brother was okay. Cut and Bomb arrived one after the other after that, and even after they'd all confirmed that he was okay directly they stayed to hang around, taking the opportunity to catch up with their siblings that they hadn't seen in a while. Although the others still seemed to go out of their way to go over and check on him, the gathering quickly became a sort of impromptu party, moving into the more homey areas of the Labs. Ice observed the cheerful atmosphere with some relief, honestly glad that the focus was moved away from him for now. And the upbeat mood was infectious, helping even more to distract him from what had happened that morning…

Ice blinked, looking up as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Dr. Light smiled back. "While everyone's busy, why don't we go and grab that treat I promised you?" Dr. Light suggested with a wink. "If we have enough time, we can even get some extra to bring back for everyone. What do you say?" Ice considered for a moment, then grinned and nodded.

As the two snuck out the back, laughing slightly, it occurred to Ice that there was something he was forgetting to mention… Something that had been odd, the thought of which nagged in the back of his mind. '_It's probably not important,' _Ice thought to himself, dismissing the feeling. '_Besides, I shouldn't keep worrying about it. You have to keep moving forward, soldier...'_


End file.
